Colourful Souls
by I Can't Feel My Heart
Summary: A soul gets a second chance at life when she gets placed into the body of Lisanna Strauss. As she tries to adjust to her new life and repent for the sins of her previous one, it slowly dawns on her that life is more precious than words can describe and that everyone makes mistakes. Also, her so-called "guide" is terrible and should be fired. AU. Slow-developing Bixanna.
1. She's Alive

She's Alive

_Where am I?_

A glance around indicated this place was dark, but glowing figures were seen lining up a few paces ahead. They looked like normal people, but they all looked pretty much the same. They moved forward slowly, as if they didn't really have any sense of where they were either.

_I should join them._

That thought circled around and around and was about to be placed into an action before a hand blocked off the view of the figures. The hand was replaced by a man's face, grinning so maniacally that his tongue hung out.

"Congrats baby." He laughed as he said so. "You're sure one lucky-ass soul. What'd you do to get this deal, huh?"

_Deal...?_

The man's smile dissipated and he frowned in question. He looked... different. Everyone else around him looked similar and glowed with a strange yellow light, but he was tall and dressed in dark clothes. His black pants were loosely-fitted and he wore a purple cape over his dark shirt. What was even stranger was that the top of his face was covered by a visor so his eyes could not be seen.

"Yeah, deal." He answered and reached into his cape to retrieve a small book. He opened it and flipped through until he got what he wanted. "You-" he stated, reading, "won a chance to repent for your sins."

_What sins?_

It was like looking through misted glasses; everything was so unclear.

"You've committed some pretty heavy sins in your life," The man crossed his arms and nodded, "And we don't really like letting souls like you through, you see. But you've got a rare chance to have a do-over. Show us that you're not so bad maybe, huh?"

He shoved his hands out to the side to stop the soul from going past him.

"What? Where ya going?" He asked.

_I'm not bad. _

"Yeah yeah, you're not supposed to have any recollection of your life anyway, so you wouldn't even know." The man waved a hand, looking irritated because of the large frown that plagued his expression. "Plus, this decision ain't even up to you or me. The big boss decides these things. Trust me, you don't wanna upset him."

He started to push the soul backwards until it turned. An elevator appeared a few metres ahead.

_This must be a mistake. _

"Shush. We don't make mistakes here. It's you who made a mistake in your life, so we're generous enough to give you a second chance." He paused to let out a huff of breath. "Could be a bit more grateful... I'm just puttin' it out there."

_Where are you taking me?_

Once they neared it, the man banged on the elevator until it opened up. "This here leads right up to the realm of the living." He stepped inside and the soul had no choice but to follow. The door slid to a close behind them and a merry tune played out as it started to ascend.

"This is how things are going to go down. First things first... No buts, ifs, whats, whys, hows and any other annoying phrases and questions. My job is taxing enough without all that nonsense. I'm just your guide, not your babysitter. Do well to remember that.  
"Secondly, you'll be placed into the body of a girl called-" He flipped through his book again, "Lisanna Strauss."

_Who is that? Is there a reason I have to be her?_

The man seemed to contemplate something before he shrugged. "Dunno, that's just what it says here. And what did I just say about the annoying questions? Sheesh." The man shook his head before he held up three fingers. "Anyway, thirdly... what? What's with that look?" He frowned and crossed his arms.

_... I'm not sure... I mean, I haven't-_

With a groan and a wave of the hand, he dismissed the soul. "Hey now, don't think too much on it okay. I'll be there to help you adjust and you know, repent for your sin. All you gotta worry about is taking action. Easy as pie, yeah?" The soul still looked uncertain, so the man rubbed his jaw in frustration. "Man, souls like you make everything so complicated. It's life! Good times, merriment, laughs, jokes and all that good stuff. It'll be a blast!" In an excited mood now, he looked up to the roof and grinned like a mad man. "Well, no time to think on it now. We're almost there!"

And a clear laugh rang out as the elevator brightened into a blinding white light.

* * *

"I'm sorry... not much... gone."

The laugh was replaced by a solemn voice that was so unclear that only a few words were understood. The voice belonged to a doctor as he spoke to a woman and large man.

The woman was beautiful, with hair as white as snow and eyes that, while dulled with tears, were so blue that they rivalled the ocean. The man was well-muscled, with hair as white as the woman's that was styled into a bowl-type haircut. His eyes were shut tight as he wept uncontrollably.

Another woman lay on the hospital bed behind the doctor, presumably related to the man and woman as she too had white hair that was cut short to her shoulders.

A nurse was busy at work beside the bed, planning on switching off the equipment when she suddenly heard a loud beep. Her head snapped up so swiftly at the sound that she almost fell backwards but the pair of blue eyes staring directly at her made her entire being freeze.

The nurse straightened slowly and those blue eyes followed her every movement, though she could tell they were still hazy and unaccustomed to the light of the room.

"Doc-Doctor!" The nurse called as the heart monitor beside her started to beep with the melody of the girl's pulse.

The doctor whipped around in surprise and sprinted to the bedside, quickly checking the woman over. He was completely perplexed as her heartbeat had stopped for a few minutes and she had been declared dead, but she was conscious now and that was all that really mattered at the moment.

The woman's eyes dropped close just as her brother and sister ran over, but she was still alive. Hell, she-

"Doctor Huns, what's going on?" The woman asked, gently shaking him on his shoulder to get his attention.

"The patient..." He looked towards the two siblings with wide eyes. "Your sister... she's alive. She made it! She's going to survive!"

* * *

Author's Note:

Short intro, but it's meant to be. Hope you enjoyed it or at least are confused about it haha. Anyway, I've always liked Bixanna and I watched a movie called 'Colorful' and my glory, it was beautiful for me and it made me come up with this idea. Usually, I'm just a reader who writes random little stories, but since I like writing so much, I decided, why the hell not publish something? And so... I'm here now.

Question: Any beta readers willing to offer time and assistance to the newbie fanfictioner? I'm just trying to improve my writing so it'll be loads of help.


	2. More Questions and Less Answers

More Questions and Less Answers

It had been a few weeks before the woman had been allowed out of the hospital, but she was grateful for the slight adjustment period. Everything was so strange... as if she wasn't meant to be there, and even though she technically wasn't, it was still off-putting.

_Lisanna Strauss._

That was who she was meant to be, but what was Lisanna like? Was she outgoing, quiet, mean? Did she have little quirks only she did that others recognized straight away? The soul stuck inside Lisanna's body had so many questions, but no answers.

She was thankful, though, that she had the excuse to act out of character due to Lisanna being in a terrible accident in which she fell from... where? She didn't know the story of her death. She hadn't been told and no one looked willing to talk about it. Perhaps they were scared it would bring back unwanted memories. Whatever the case, she was curious.

During the few weeks, the soul found she was partially surprised that Lisanna had so many visitors that saw her while she had been in hospital. When these strangers hugged her and spoke of the utter joy they felt at hearing she was doing okay, she felt warm, and it was a familiar feeling that tugged at awkward angles inside of her. She felt wanted before she realized something important, and then she simply felt uneasy and guilty.

It had seemed she had lots of friends who were there for her, but they weren't her friends... They were Lisanna's.

With a sigh, she placed her chopsticks down. The two sitting across from her stared in surprise when they saw she wasn't eating. They had been at the hospital on the first day. Elfman and Mirajane... They were Lisanna's brother and sister. Elfman cried a lot, she noticed, but she didn't know if that was because of the accident or if he was just generally over-emotional. She saw that he tried, truly tried, not to cry in front of her but sometimes when he walked in through the door to her room, he couldn't contain himself. He wept almost as bad as a baby, saying how happy he was that she was still with them.

Mirajane, or Mira for short, was slightly different, but she was a very kind woman. She always brought this strange sort of comfort whenever she was near, a staggering feeling of nostalgia that had the soul all muddled up and confused.

"Are you alright?" Mira asked, looking like she was ready to stand. "It's your first day out of the hospital... you don't want to go back, do you?"

The soul steeled herself. She was meant to be Lisanna, not confused. She shook her head quickly. "I'm fine, really. I'm just... tired."

Mira visibly relaxed and nodded her head in understanding. Getting to her feet, the soul offered a sorry for only eating half of the dish that Mira had prepared and then turned. She halted in shock after a second.

She wanted to go to Lisanna's room and think things through, but since this was the first time in the house, and because they had sat in the kitchen and prepared dinner since they got home, she wasn't even sure about what the rest of the house looked like. She couldn't ask where her room was; that would seem strange... right?

As she struggled to come to a decision, she nearly gasped in shock when she noticed movement in the corner of her eye. She turned her head to see the strange man who brought her back to the land of the living. He was grinning wildly in amusement at her predicament before he pointed over his shoulder with his thumb.

"Are you sure you're alright?" A worried voice reached her just as a gentle hand rested on her shoulder. She jumped in surprise and looked over to see Mira.

"Yes." She scurried out of the way to the doorway the man still stood at. He moved out of the way just as she went through, and she heard him chuckle at her actions. Flustered, she turned back to Mira and Elfman, who stood now in bewilderment, and shook her head. "I'm fine, I swear. I just want a little rest is all." She tried to smile, but it must've come out looking strange as the man beside her burst out laughing.

She straightened in surprise. Could the other two not see him? She gave him a look of confusion, but he couldn't speak because he was laughing so hard. Instead, he just turned her around and pushed her up the hallway until they got to a staircase. He seemed to calm down as she went up the first step and she turned around to ask him what the hell kind of guide he was, but her face set him off again and he was clutching at his side by the time they made it up the stairs.

He moved past her, his outburst having moved to a slight chuckle, and led her into the first room on the right. She closed the door behind her as she walked in and observed the room she had to call hers.

It was simple. A single bed placed against the wall, a dresser underneath the window that showed the street outside, a desk which had a few scattered papers on it and a large beanbag to which the man currently lay over, trying to get his wits about him. She still didn't understand what he found so funny, but she waited for him to calm down, if only to gather her own thoughts and decide whether to be angry or pleasant.

"Oi, make that face again." He suddenly commanded, pointing at her, "you know, when you look like you're going burst you need to piss so bad?" His tongue stuck out of his mouth. "Don't 'cha know how to smile?"

Okay. That was it. She was going to be angry.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" She fumed at him throwing her arms around in frustration. "Some guide you are huh? You should get fired."

He grinned and folded his arms behind his head as he lounged back. "Eh, I don't get paid anyway, so it wouldn't matter all that much if the boss decided to kick me out." He then folded one leg over the other, looking more like he was lounging on a lawn chair on a Sunday afternoon rather than explaining himself to an angry woman. "Besides, I'm a great guide. Wouldn't have found your room without me, I reckon."

"Oh really? That's what you reckon?"

"I'd say it's a truth you'll always be in denial about." He shrugged. "You wouldn't want one of the other guides. Good ol' Bickslow is the best with this soul stuff. You don't know how lucky you are, baby."

"Bickslow?" The soul questioned out loud.

"Lisanna." He grunted in response. "Yeah, that's right. I can say your name too."

"Lisanna isn't my na-"

She was interrupted by Bickslow swiftly. "It is now, so you just gotta deal with it. I ain't having none of this petty little 'oh, I'm not actually this person, however can I cope?' nonsense." he scoffed, "Especially from such a lucky one like you. You've got a time limit, you know?"

This shocked her greatly. "A time limit? For what? And how long?"

"For repenting your sins. It's not like you're here to get an ice-cream or something, you've got some work to do, girlie." He then paused in thought. "As for how long... I think it's about half a year"

The soul moved to sit on the edge of the bed. To Bickslow's surprise, she looked to be deep in thought rather than worried.

"I've been thinking..." She started, closing her eyes in concentration. "You keep saying I committed so many sins in my life, but I don't remember what they are. Surely I should at least be told what they are considering I have to repent for them."

"Yeah, no." Bickslow answered. "Can't do that."

"Why not?"

"Because you've gotta figure it out on your own. Go through all the stages of regret and longing to do right and all that," He then pulled out a small book from inside his cape and opened it. "At least that's what it says here."

"What is that thing anyway?" She huffed, a little annoyed that he wouldn't tell her what she had done in her previous life.

"The book of Lisanna Strauss as well as the instructions I received on how to deal with you." He closed the book and waved it at his side. "Tells me everything I could ever want to know. Her friends, family, juicy titbits, you name it, and it's in this little book here. There is nothing about her life that isn't written between these pages."

"Does it say how she died?"

"Yeah, why?"

The soul stood and marched up to stand in front of him. "Because I want to know." She simply stated before she snatched the book from his hand. To her dismay, when she opened it, there were only blank pages. "What? There's nothing written in here."

"People of the living world cannot see what is written in that book. Think of it, somewhat, as a safety precaution, so nosy people like you-" He stretched his foot up to her and swiftly kicked the book out of her hands so it fell back onto him. "-don't find out things you ain't supposed to know."

"You could be making up everything for all I know!" The soul protested, "How am I meant to trust what you say when you're reading from a blank book?"

"Easy." He responded immediately. "Look at me. What have I got to gain by lying to you?" He paused in thought. "'Cept for a few good laughs, I suppose."

"You're impossible." The soul turned her back on him with an irritated huff and walked to the desk and the scattered papers.

"What're you doing?" Bickslow asked, sparing her a curious glance.

"Ignoring you." She replied smoothly, but she was half distracted looking through the papers. They were written in some strange letters that she couldn't understand. She flicked through them and they all looked similar except for the last one, which was a small slip that seemed to be a shopping list of some sort in writing she could read. She had just started to read through it before a breath tickled her ear.

"I'm not really happy to be ignored." Bickslow's voice whispered in her ear and caused her to jump and fling the papers into the air.

She turned on him and flinched backwards a little in surprise at his sudden proximity. "Then maybe you shouldn't act like such an ass." She glared at him for a second and his grin returned at that.

She promptly bent down and picked up the scattered papers on the floor. Bickslow did nothing to help, of course, just stood there and watched in amusement. The small slip she had been looking at was forgotten after her shock and lay unnoticed underneath the side drawers of the desk.

The soul shoved the papers at him, but he simply stood and stared at them as they were pressed into his chest. He made no move to take them and she was forced to hold them there.

"How do I read these?" She asked promptly, still fuming at his antics from a minute ago.

"Do I look like a translator to you?" He countered, picking her hand off of his chest and pushing her away slightly. "Besides, why would you want to know?"

"I'm meant to be Lisanna, so I should know how to read what she has written. What if it's important or something?"

"Correction." Bickslow held a finger up to her. "You _are_ Lisanna, not 'meant to be'."

"Okay fine, fine. I'm Lisanna." She finally let up, and the words felt strange on her tongue for some reason. "Doesn't your little book tell you how to read these?"

He produced said book from inside his cape and flipped through it. "Eh, it tells me what's written on it, not how to read it. It's a code made by... uh let's just say your family." He looked a little awkward now, as if he remembered something he was supposed to do that he hadn't.

"Mira and Elfman?" Lisanna questioned, raising an eyebrow. "Why do we have a coded language? Are these papers for them?"

"Your family is a little bigger than that, so it's not for those two specifically." He started off slowly as if he wasn't entirely sure on what he was saying. "Look, it's a lot to explain and it's all very complicated so you're just going to have to figure out these things on your own."

"On my own..." Lisanna frowned. "How do you call this guidance then?"

"Hey, I said I was your guide not the answer to every question in the universe, which is good because even if I was, I still wouldn't be able to answer all of yours. What did we talk about in the elevator?" He reminded her and she could only sigh.

She wondered if she could ask for an exchange or perhaps find a way to send him back. No guidance at all sounded a whole lot better than putting up with his rude antics and infuriating withholding of vital information.

"That's cold." He replied and it was then that she realized she had voiced her thoughts out loud. "Like I said before, there ain't another guide as good as me with this soul stuff."

"Well," She started, crossing her arms, "Prove you're good. Tell me how Lisanna died."

"Please. I don't have to prove anything to you." His words contradicted his actions however, when he moved to sit at the edge of the bed and patted the spot beside him. "But, I'll tell you anyway because I'm a saint."

"Saint, huh?" Lisanna snorted. "Sure doesn't seem lik-"

She was interrupted as he clicked his tongue in annoyance. He made like he was standing up and spoke, "Well, if you're so sure you don't want to know how you got into that little accident..."

She quickly moved and pushed him back onto the bed before she sat beside him on the spot he patted. Bickslow grunted as he lounged back and made himself comfortable. "You're so pushy." He commented when she looked back at him.

"Stop delaying the inevitable." She herself then lay on her back beside him, and waited to hear him speak. She dared not look at him. It was weird, in a sense, being told how the person of the body you're in died and she wasn't sure what reaction she would have at being told such a thing. Either way, she didn't really want her guide to see, so she stared at the ceiling and refused to look at him.

"Once upon a time," He started then and she rolled her eyes. "Lisanna walked out by herself. Her brother and sister were worried, you see, because they were involved in a pretty messed up situation, and no, I'm not going to tell you what that situation was 'cause you'll see soon anyway. Anyhow, she disappeared for a few days and while she had only gone on a trip up the mountainside just north of this town, her family had been convinced she had been kidnapped or taken hostage or some weird notion like that. Lisanna liked nature, it made her feel calm and she liked that mountain in particular. It was her place of solitary, that's why no one else knew about it. She just wanted to get away for a few days, but as she was hiking back down the mountain, she sort of just fell..."

The soul was confused about his sudden silence, so she asked, "Fell?"

"Well, yeah. Tumbled down a good height before she hit the ground again. A couple of strangers saw her and called an ambulance straight away. Spent a few days in critical condition before she passed on and then you arrived." Bickslow spoke slowly, almost hesitantly.

The soul found it strange that he suddenly cut the story so short after starting off like he was ready to go on for hours. "Why are you so quiet all of a sudden?" She asked then, her blue eyes widening.

Bickslow shifted uncomfortably on the bed, and then replied after he coughed. "Well, there's a couple of rumours running around you see? Some say she was pushed by the same people who were thought to have kidnapped her. And no, still not telling you anything about that." He quickly added before she asked. He paused to sigh at her huff before he continued. "Others say she jumped... Something about her being under too much pressure being the youngest of the Strauss siblings. That's why they've been worried about you so much. Thinking you tried to commit suicide..."

"Well, did I?"

"Can't tell you-"

He was interrupted as her hand came up and punched him in his side.

"What the hell?"Bickslow shot up abruptly and glared at the woman who glared back at him. "I can't tell you because I honestly don't know. The information is sketchy at best, okay?" He jumped off his spot on the bed and twirled around to face her.

"Because you're getting it from a blank book!" Lisanna yelled at him before she yanked on the pillow beside her and threw it at him.

He dodged it easily and shook a finger at her. "Don't insult the book!"

"Don't be such a child!" She spat back, incredibly angry with him now. All the bitterness and confusion had built up so much at this point that she couldn't contain it any longer.

He took a step forward so that he towered over her. "I can whatever the hell I want to be. I'm Bickslow and you don't tell me what to do."

She got distracted for a second as she realized just how tall he was, but his words hit her pretty hard and her anger subsided into a fickle flame that soon sputtered out as sincere uncertainty took over. She curled her hands in and out in frustration but her words were not forming in her mind or on her tongue. Eventually, she gave up trying to speak and slammed head-first into the bed before letting out frustrated cry into the softness of the mattress.

After that was out of her system, she turned her head towards Bickslow and whispered. "I'm Lisanna and I need to be told what to do. I just... I don't know what I'm doing. I can't be whoever the hell you want me to be."

She felt a hand rub her back and found little comfort in that.

"There, there, baby." She heard Bickslow voice out as she turned her head back into the mattress so she couldn't look at him. "Everything's gonna work out alright, you've got me as a guide after all, huh?"

Yeah, he really wasn't one to run to for comfort. If anything, he made everything a hundred times worse.

* * *

Author's Note:

I was just excited to write more, so here you go. Also, not sure if I'm getting Bixlow's characterization right, but I'm just gonna roll with it and see where it leads. Hah. Anyhow, thanks to everyone who takes the time to read this. Hopefully, it's not too cringe-worthy.


	3. Fresh Air

Fresh Air

Lisanna opened her eyes as she felt her body being shaken softly. She struggled to make sense of anything for a few seconds as her gaze fluttered around the unidentifiable objects littering her view. She blinked a couple of times and then yawned.

"It's good to see you're awake now." A gentle voice spoke up and Mira's face became apparent. She smiled and Lisanna tried to think back on a time when she hadn't been smiling. Nothing came to mind. Was she always so cheery?

Lisanna sat up and couldn't help by let out another yawn, to which Mira giggled at. Suddenly, everything from last night came back.

Bickslow.

Just where was that so called guide of hers?

She tried to look around inconspicuously to see if he was still in the room somewhere, but Mira was the only other person around. She must've fallen asleep after his attempt to comfort her. She recalled how the semi-awkward back-rub had turned, in its own, strange way, into this weird warmth that reminded her that she wasn't as alone as she had originally thought. Still though, maybe she would have preferred to be alone considering the company she had to deal with.

"I've brought your favourite tea." Mira spoke up, sitting at the edge of the bed and holding out a steaming mug.

The younger woman took it cautiously, careful not to burn her hand. After successfully taking it, she took a sip. It was an odd flavour, a sort of mix of different spices, and it smelled funny. Was this really her favourite?

Lisanna attempted to put on a pleasant expression, as if she enjoyed the tea, and looked at Mira. Her eyes narrowed suspiciously at how distant the woman looked. She stared at the ground and didn't even realize how hostile Lisanna looked. Her mind was obviously elsewhere.

Lisanna thought back to what Bicklow had said the day before. The woman in front of her looked so docile and was so very kind; it was difficult to believe that she was involved in shady business. Was there another side to her that she hadn't showed yet? The soul couldn't help but feel both uncomfortable and guarded.

If her siblings were involved in presumably illegal business, did that mean she had to atone for the sins of her previous life by stopping them in whatever they did? Is that how she was meant to show how good she was? She didn't know, but looking at how innocent Mira seemed made her feel curious to find out.

Mira suddenly perked up and startled Lisanna so bad she nearly dropped her mug. "Oh, are you feeling well enough to visit Fairy Tail today? I fear everyone would invite themselves over to check that you're doing fine, and this house will be wrecked if that happened. You know how careless they can be."

Lisanna didn't though. What was Fairy Tail? Some codeword for something? And who were these people who would invite themselves over? The same ones who she met at the hospital? Was she ready for that?

Seeing at how Mira was expecting an answer, Lisanna shrugged. "I'm not sure if I have the energy to handle them today..."

She took a guess there. These Fairy Tail people sounded like a rowdy bunch.

Mira's expression dropped slightly, but she nodded nonetheless. "Ah, I'll try keep them away then so you can rest up, but there's no guarantees." She stood up and dusted off her long skirt. "I better be going though, I've got the long shift today. If you need me, however, or Elfman, please call us immediately." She walked to the door, but before she walked through, she added, "remember that you can't stay away from your family too long. They'll be pounding down the door in no time."

With that said and done, Mira left.

Lisanna frowned. "My family..." she muttered. She placed her tea mug on the dresser beside her bad and plopped back down into the safety of the covers. She buried her head underneath her pillow and groaned loudly. What was she supposed to do?

* * *

Apparently sitting at home all day was not just something she wasn't supposed to do, but it was also something she _couldn't _do. It was barely lunch time before Lisanna grew restless. She had explored the rest of the house, re-examined the papers she had found yesterday, grew frustrated at how she still had no idea what they meant and made herself two cups of that strange tea just to distract herself from tearing up the papers.

She had just finished the second mug before she decided that it was time she got out of the house. The walls surrounding her were beginning to look like they were getting smaller and closer. She waited a few seconds by the front door to prepare herself. Hopefully she didn't run into anyone that knew her.

She grasped the door handle and flung it open to reveal the street she had barely looked at when she had arrived. Closing the door behind her and locking it, she then walked along the narrow path to where it connected with the street. She looked around and noticed the town she was in spread out pretty far, but the one thing that caught her attention the most was a large mountain right next to where the town ended and she stopped to stare at it for a while.

_Was that where I fell? _Lisanna thought. She felt uncomfortable at the sight of it and crossed her arms together before she turned on her heel and walked down the street. She didn't know exactly where she was walking to and she hoped she wouldn't get lost.

As she walked further and passed many houses and what looked to be stores, she found herself interested in the people that walked through the streets beside her. Something was strange about their expressions, but Lisanna couldn't understand why or what it was. They looked... sad? No. More like despondent perhaps. There was just something in those small, almost invisible frowns that made her wary.

She kept on walking though, interested to see where the street would take her. It eventually thinned out and the buildings became more spaced out from each other while the emaciated street ventured two ways as they made a path in the middle for what appeared to be a road for vehicles. Cars became more apparent as she walked to the left.

Lisanna found herself becoming tired as her feet started to drag on the street. She stopped and looked around her to find a wide open space that looked like a park. There was a grassy plain with a few benches and trees scattered while directly in the middle, there was an enclosed area filled with sand. This area had a swing-set and a jungle gym. She found herself drawn to the grassy plain and sat against the trunk of a tree to rest.

Half an hour passed of blissful peace and quiet before a noise startled Lisanna back into reality. A soft meow echoed to her ears and she snapped her head up at the sound. A few paces off, there was a white and tabby cat sitting there with its tail crossed neatly over its paws, just watching her. She immediately relaxed and felt at ease, though she didn't fully understand why.

It took a few unsuccessful attempts at bribery before the cat finally got to its feet and daintily sauntered to Lisanna's side. She was happy as she brushed her fingers over the soft fur. Her fingers gently rubbed the cat's head and moved to under its chin when another noise completely caught her by surprise.

"Woah, you're a cat girl then?" An all-too-familiar voice whistled out.

Lisanna's head snapped left and right to try and find the man that spoke but her was nowhere in sight.

"Up here, you idiot." The voice drawled out, obviously unimpressed.

Lisanna looked up and her mouth fell open at Bickslow's position. His legs were hanging off of a large branch and swung as he balanced deftly. He leant back slightly and allowed his weight to pull him backwards so he hung upside down.

"You should join a circus." Lisanna commented, stunned at how acrobatic he was. He didn't look like he could be; but then again, she hadn't really _looked_ at him either. She'd seen him, obviously, but she hadn't noticed things. Like his visor. Had he always worn that? She thought back but couldn't remember what his eyes looked like, so she must have never seen them.

"And you should join the Bickslow Fanclub. You'd fit in well." He cackled to himself as he let himself drop to the ground. He landed smoothly, almost charmingly and Lisanna almost thought he was someone else. But, when he plopped down next to her with an unappealing grunt and with about as much grace as a sloth, she knew that, yeah, this was definitely the Bickslow she had talked with before.

"What, do all your fans want you to be fired as well?" Lisanna asked, hugging her knees to her body and resting her chin on them.

"Why you gotta be like that huh?" Bickslow responded immediately with a frown. "And here I thought I'd be a good guide and pop in to see you after your little wussy session last night. Really, _this _is the thanks I get?"

"Oh, so you admit to being a bad guide up until this point?"

"That's not the point I'm tryin-" Bickslow started.

"You still admit it though." Lisanna interrupted, rolling her eyes. She looked at the cat that had run off a few paces after Bickslow's arrival and worked to coax it back to her. She liked the cat. Far better company than the man beside her. The cat neared her again and gladly accepted the little rubs on its head.

Bickslow sighed for about the fifth time before he finally gave up with coming up with a comeback. He looked over and snorted with amusement at how happy she seemed.

"Lisanna was similar you know?" He started and she froze in surprise. "Liked animals. The book says her favourite was cats though."

"What else does it say?" She asked after she resumed giving affection to the cat.

Bickslow shrugged. "Well, what do you want to know?"

There was a long pause.

Lisanna had tonnes of questions but they rolled around inside her head so frantically that she couldn't form a coherent one out of the jumbled mess. She gave the cat one last pet before she stood up. She enjoyed finding out something by accident, she realized. It made her feel a strange sense of achievement. And so, without getting too caught up in her own head again, she looked back at the man casually lying behind her.

"I want to know how to get home." She finally stated.

His frown turned into a full-out grin.

* * *

"Crappy guide." Lisanna huffed as she tried to read his scraggly handwriting. After she told him what she wanted to know, he took out a piece of paper and wrote directions on it. Before she could complain about how illegible his handwriting was, he had left on his own merry way. "Who needs him anyway?"

She grumbled to herself as she trekked up the street. The area around her looked vaguely similar so she decided to follow her instinct instead of an idiot guide's directions. She got to the point where the road for vehicles ended and turned into a street for pedestrians and knew that she was at least heading in the right direction.

"Huh? Lisanna?!" She heard a voice call out to her and turned to see Elfman leaving a building with a bag of groceries in each hand.

She stopped and waited for him to catch up, very relieved. Now she'd be able to get home without getting lost.

"What are you doing out?" Elfman asked as he stepped beside her. "Mira said you weren't going to Fairy Tail today."

Again with Fairy Tail? Crud. She should have asked about that when Bickslow offered information.

They both started to walk as Lisanna replied, "I just went for a little walk. You know, just wanted a little bit of fresh air."

Elfman nodded as if he understood. They made idle chit-chat as they walked together, conversations of how their days went filling up the otherwise uneventful walk home.

When Lisanna and Elfman arrived at their house, Mira was in the kitchen, preparing dinner. The siblings each did their fair share of the preparations and eventually sat down to eat together. As Lisanna stuffed steamed vegetables into her mouth, she stole a glance towards her brother and sister. Were these two really involved in some sketchy business?

* * *

A few hours later, Lisanna closed the door to her room, thankful that she was finally able to be alone. It wasn't that she disliked being with Mira and Elfman, it was the exact opposite, in fact. She was growing fond of them and this fact made her feel bitter. She wasn't here to replaced Lisanna and live out her life, she was here to fix her previous one.

She surveyed the room and eventually walked over to the desk. She wasn't quite ready for bed, despite the rather tiring day she had been through. She was curious to see what she could find out about Lisanna. Opening the first drawer, she could see nothing of interest after rummaging through and so closed it with a sigh. The second drawer was similar. The third drawer would've been similar had she not found a secret compartment at the bottom when she pressed down too hard. Inside the compartment, there was a medium sized book with the letters 'Fairy Tail' engraved on it in bold letters.

Curiously, Lisanna sat on her bed and opened up to the first page. It was a photo journal.

The first photo was of Mira, Elfman and Lisanna. They looked to be in a busy room as there were lots of people in the background. The caption beside it was 'My Family." There was that strange writing she couldn't understand underneath the caption and Lisanna grumbled to herself. She turned the page over and saw two figures, a blonde woman and a pink-haired man. The woman had the man in a head-lock and the caption read: "Lucy beating Natsu for something stupid... again."

Lisanna recognized these two from when they visited her numerous times in the hospital. So they had something to do with this so-called Fairy Tail?

She looked through the rest of the pictures, though the journal only filled up a quarter of the book. There were some bizarre photographs of things happening that she couldn't understand because they had that strange writing for their captions. She recognized some faces but there were no other names written so she wasn't sure who they were.

She went through the journal one more time before she placed it back where it had been. This Fairy Tail... Oh, she was curious about it now. No more questioning about whether or not she was ready to face people as Lisanna. She had to be.

* * *

Author's Note:

And I'm having way too much fun here. Apologies for any mistakes I may have missed. I hope you're enjoying this so far.

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Mira Dreyar - That is the sweetest thing to say. Thank you so much for the support :) Haha love you too :) Hugs all around!


	4. Part I: Fairy Tail

Part I: Fairy Tail

No matter how many times she told herself she was ready, she stepped into the chaos known as Fairy Tail, and instantly got whacked in the face by the fact that she most certainly was not ready to face people as Lisanna.

Lisanna gaped at the strange people who froze when she walked through the door behind Mira, and she briefly thought about the way she came so she had a sure-fire escape route. It was up the street from her house, in the opposite direction to what she had walked yesterday. It was a pretty long walk and practically at the edge of the town, just west from the large mountain. She had been led into a very old-looking building, and it had looked to also be abandoned, yet as soon as the second set of front doors opened... chaos. Chaos everywhere.

And it resumed the second they got their wits about them.

"Lisanna!" They all screamed in unison and lunged towards her with out-stretched arms.

The poor soul got buried underneath the heaps of bodies all ecstatic about seeing her.

"Now, now, I'm sure Lisanna doesn't want to be suffocated by all of you just as she got out of hospital." Mira's voice come through and a bright light opened up in Lisanna's vision as her sister's delicate hand reached through the throng of people to pull her out.

She somehow made it out alive and before they could all grab hold of her again, a loud voice boomed out.

"Oi, give the woman some space!"

Lisanna looked to see a blonde woman standing on a table to get everyone's attention. It took a few seconds to recognize her but Lisanna recalled the photo journal she had found. Her hair was slightly shorter than in the photo but those brown eyes and pretty face were unmistakable. This was Lucy.

A little woman with blue hair stepped out from the crowd and crossed her arms defiantly. "Shut it! She has all the space she needs."

Lucy jumped off the table and marched over to the short girl who had called out. "Listen here pip-"

"Ah, now now. Lucy, why don't you take Lisanna and go see Natsu?" Mira interrupted them with a smile on her face. The two woman beside her looked like they were ready to kill each other and she was smiling? Sometimes, one could only wonder about Mira.

"Why would I do that?" Lucy huffed, her brows furrowing.

"I heard that you were requested as a team. Now I know it should only be you and Natsu, but Lisanna should start small with getting back into action. She can come straight back after you two meet up with Natsu." Mira explained, looking at her little sister with slight worry.

Lucy nodded then. She pushed Lisanna back towards the door from which she had came, not without shooting a death glare towards the short woman, and the two of them were alone as the door closed behind them.

Silence.

Lucy trudged on without a second glance at Lisanna and the soul had no choice but to follow.

It was a while before the silence became too excruciating. Lisanna just had to speak.

"So, where is Natsu?"

By the look Lucy gave her, she must've said the wrong thing.

"Where he always is..." She answered hesitantly, as if expecting her to jump up with confetti and yell 'just joking!'. She gave her a long look before she shrugged and continued on. "You know he has another job other than Fairy Tail. He'll be at the shop around this time."

_What kind of shop?_Lisanna couldn't help but ask herself. It was annoying not knowing anything.

The two journeyed on for about an hour, filling up the time with awkward chit-chat and silence as neither quite knew what to say. Lucy eventually stopped outside of a vehicle repair shop and walked through the door confidently. It wasn't a large building, no more than four cars could be parked inside for repairs and maintenance, but it wasn't as suffocating as Fairy Tail had been. Perhaps that was because of the lack of people trying to bury her six feet under.

"Oi, Natsu!" Lucy called, disappearing behind a car that was so broken down, it was probably there for authentic decoration.

Lisanna attentively sidled along the clearest path she could find among the tools and car parts strewn across the floor. She didn't want to touch anything or make it out of place. Though, in all honesty, she thought everything inside the building couldn't be more out of place even if managed to conjure a tornado right there in the middle of the room. Lisanna surveyed the room, yet amid all of the mess, she couldn't spot the head of blonde hair that had walked off.

Instead, a slightly squeaky noise kept her company.

Wait.

Why was there a squeaky noise?

Lisanna looked around until a strange movement caught her eye. She spotted the visor slowly, yet consistently, moving across the building. She couldn't help but let out a sigh.

She followed the clean path until it met with another, and stood to watch Bickslow slowly rolling across the floor on a small wagon that had obviously had its tools rudely removed. He sat crossed legged to fit, but the squeaky noise the wheels made against the floor indicated just how much force just Bickslow's weight was. Lisanna assumed that to be because of his unnatural height. Or perhaps his visor. Just how heavy was that thing?

"Are you just going to stare, or are you going to join in the fun?" Bickslow asked as his wagon came rolling by at an excruciatingly leisurely pace.

Lisanna rolled her eyes as he went past. "I assume the fun bit is the break-necking speed you're going at?"

Bickslow laughed at her response and took a few minutes to calm down enough to speak. "No, baby, no."

"Then perhaps it's the thrill of doing weird things because no one can see you do them."

"You see me, don't cha?" He asked as he shook his head. "But it is the thrill of something. You hear that squeak?" Lisanna nodded and he continued. "This bad boy can break any second, but I don't know what second, or if it will break at all. The mystery of it all is the thrill." He paused, then frowned. "And I'm insulted that you think I do weird things."

"I can't be the only one." Lisanna mused, stifling a laugh as he stuck his tongue out at her and disappeared behind a car.

Lisanna suddenly stiffened as she heard Lucy's voice shout out. Another second later, she saw her dragging a pink-haired man behind her. She recognized him from the picture as well. He must be Natsu.

"Ow," He moaned as he was dragged. He wore dirty overalls, had grease covering half of his face and a pair of goggles dangled around his neck. There were two outlines on his forehead from them, so Lucy must've snapped them on his head moments before. Damn, the blonde was scary.

Natsu seemed to brighten up as he saw Lisanna though and struggled out of Lucy's grip to run to her.

"Lisanna!" He called out to her as he wrapped his arms around her frame. "You're back, thank God!" His next words were a quick whisper in her ear just before Lucy walked up behind him. "Save me."

Lisanna looked confused at his last plead, but as Lucy cracked her knuckles, grabbed Natsu, and swung him over her shoulder, she understood. Poor Natsu.

"We've got a mission." Lucy stated, "and as much as we both wanna spend some more time with our dear friend, there's no time for that now." Natsu looked like he was about to say something, but clamped up when Lucy looked at him and threatened, "Don't make me practise a new move on you. I've got one called the back-splitter version 2.0. Sounds good, doesn't it?" She asked, walking off to the exit.

"Just great..." Natsu whimpered and shot Lisanna one last pleading look before he was carried out of the door.

"Man, I'd hate to be in his shoes." Bickslow's voice came up behind her.

Lisanna startled slightly and looked back at him. He had different clothes on than the previous times, she noticed. His cape was gone, and his shirt was thin and long-sleeved while his grey pants tightened at his ankles, but were loosely fitted up to his waist.

She shook her head, not wanting to be distracted, and asked, "Why?"

"You didn't see that?" He then whistled. "That Lucy is really scary. And strong."

Lisanna looked at the door and thought it was weird she was standing in there practically on her own. She didn't count Bickslow as being with someone since he was such bad company. So, she briskly walked to the door and out of it, and was partially surprised to find the man himself was outside before she was.

"How did you do that?" She asked cautiously looking behind her.

"What?" Bickslow just looked confused.

"Get outside before I did."

He snorted. "Please." And walked off down the street. Just like that.

Lisanna huffed and quickly followed until she was beside him. She tried to match his steps but his legs were far longer than hers and he took much larger strides so she eventually gave up on that notion.

"If you won't answer that question," Lisanna started, "will you answer another?"

"That question count?"

She snorted. "Please."

And he just laughed. "Okay, okay, what is it?"

"What exactly is Fairy Tail? I went there and saw it, but I'm not exactly sure what it is. What do people do there?" Lisanna asked, twining her fingers together.

"They do whatever the hell they want." At her skeptical look, he nodded furiously. "I'm serious! They call it a guild and people send in missions for them to do. And it's literally any kind of problem that they deal with. They're all optional of course, that's why most of the people there have another job on the side, and people do them mostly out of goodwill, though the money they receive can come in handy."

Lisanna nodded in understanding. "So, what, Natsu's a mechanic of somesort?" Bickslow did a sort of half nod, half shrug. "Then what does Lucy do?"

"Oh, she's a martial arts instructor. Yeah, I know. Scary." Bickslow let out a little shudder.

Lisanna whistled low, but then stopped and frowned in thought. "So, I'm part of Fairy Tail, but all it basically is, is a group of people helping out whoever needs help." She paused briefly. "Then what the hell did Mira and Elfman do to think I got kidnapped?"

Bickslow nodded, "Remember what I said though. All sorts of jobs come in. Literally anything. I didn't say they were all good jobs. There have been some bad deeds done in the past."

"And they did them, right?" Lisanna pointed at herself.

"Well, not all of them, but... yeah."

Silence filled the empty space between them and Lisanna finally took notice of her surroundings. She hadn't been paying much attention before, but she realized she definitely should have. She didn't recognize anything around her. She stopped momentarily when she heard a meow.

Lisanna jumped since the sound had come from beside her as a woman in a fur jacket, long skirt and high heel shoes clanked past her with a cat resting in her arms. The cat meowed once more as its head turned to the man beside her and with an amused grin, Bickslow petted its head lightly. As if feeling someone touching her cat, the woman whirled around to Lisanna with a scowl on her face.

"I hope you know, young lady, that I can press charges if you touch Buttercup again. She's a winner." The woman looked completely serious, but Lisanna was still too distracted by the fact that the cat appeared to see Bickslow when no one else had. She quickly replied with an apology because she honestly couldn't think of anything else. The woman huffed and twirled around to angrily march on ahead.

Lisanna swiftly turned to Bickslow. "That cat... it saw you, right?"

The man frowned slightly, as if confused by her question. "Yeah, why?"

"Well, I thought you couldn't be seen. You know, because Mira and Elfman never seemed to notice when you were in the same room, so I just thought since you're from the realm of the dead, no living thing can see you." Lisanna then paused in thought, "Except for the soul you're supposed to guide."

Bickslow shrugged as if this all didn't matter to him. "Yeah no, doesn't work like that. Some cats see me, a lot of dogs do too. At least everything has this... sense that I'm nearby, but they usually can't comprehend this sense and so take no notice of it. Although, some people have the ability to see me, though I'm not sure why they can."

"People see you?" Lisanna's eyes widened. "What happens when they see you?"

Bickslow stopped walking and faced her slowly. His mouth turned upwards slyly as he smiled. A weighted silence spanned out for a few seconds as Lisanna waited for his reply.

"I kill 'em."

Lisanna's jaw dropped at his answer and she ended up taking a step backwards out of pure instinct. She regretted that though, when he suddenly burst out into laughter.

"Oh, man, you're silly. Of course I don't kill 'em; it would just mean more work for me." He waved a hand uncaringly. "I don't do anything. They just go about their normal lives as if I were any other stranger they passed on the street."

"Even with the visor?" Lisanna asked sceptically.

"Come on, baby. Don't insult the vis-"

He was interrupted as a beep sounded out. Lisanna quickly pulled her cellphone out of her pocket and looked at the screen. She saw a message from Mira:

_Can you come to Fairy Tail asap? There's a mission that specifies you. I know you're just getting back into the swing of things, but the mission in itself is very important. xx_

* * *

_Author's note:_

_edit: sorry I made a mistake in the previous update, but it's fixed now._

I'm thinking of updating this every Thursday. So, I did some planning and divided this story into three parts, this chapter being the start of Part I. If you hadn't already guessed, the characters in this part are the Edolas versions and other than that, I'm not going to explain anything else because I want the fic to slowly unravel the whys and hows and whats.

I apologize for any mistakes and hope you enjoyed reading.

Replies to reviews:

Mavin: Aw, I really ship them too. Thank you very much for the support and hope you liked the update. :)


	5. The Information Broker

The Information Broker

When Lisanna arrived back at the 'abandoned' building that Fairy Tail called their home, she was slightly surprised to see it so quiet. Bickslow had left her shortly after she had received Mira's message. She couldn't help but snort. He sure was a useless guide.

She looked around a while for the white hair of her sister, and found it behind the bar. Mira nearly jumped when she noticed her, and excitedly called her over. She cautiously wondered to her, a little alarmed at how excited she seemed. Once at the bar, Mira handed her a sheet of paper with a smile.

Lisanna looked over it curiously. It was a request of some sort that asked her specifically to look into the recent cases of reported cat fighting.

"Cat... fighting?" She asked uncertainly.

Mira nodded. "I figured it would be a good way to get you back into business. All you've got to do is investigate." She pointed at the paper Lisanna held, "Says here that there's a match on Thursday somewhere in town. If you can get in, see what's going on and report it to the client, then that's your job all done and dusted." The white-haired woman smiled sweetly. "Are you feeling up for it?"

When Bickslow had told her that Fairy Tail did all kinds of jobs, he really wasn't kidding. Lisanna gulped, but nodded nonetheless. Maybe taking on this job would be a way to repent for her apparent sins. How difficult could it really be?

* * *

Surprisingly, it was rather difficult to get any information about the upcoming, so-called "match" that was happening on Thursday. It had been two days since she received her mission from Mirajane and Lisanna had yet to find out anything of importance. It was beyond frustrating. What was even more so was the fact that her guide hadn't bothered to show his face around to help.

What a useless, little-

"With that expression, you better not be thinking about me." A low voice reached her ears and her eyes flew open to see Bickslow leaning forward to get on her eye level.

Lisanna frowned at him and retorted. "With that stance, you better not be here just to lecture me on how good a guide you are when you are clearly anything but."

Bickslow stood up straight as Lisanna got up off the bench she was sitting on. His hand rested on his chin and his whole posture was surprisingly thoughtful.

"No." He paused. "At least not until you fetch me a microphone and a podium. A projector with one of those cool laser things would be good too."

"You're unbelievable." Lisanna turned on him, but he lithely side-stepped away from her and started to walk down the secluded path to their right.

She had no choice but to run to catch up before he left her alone again. As she slowed and stepped in time with him, she hastily shoved away the uneasy feeling she got from following him. She shouldn't be so dependent on him, but then again, she didn't have many other options.

She's been utterly, inconceivably lost these past few days, stuttering her way through what seemed like thousands of awkward encounters and unanswerable questions and all she had accomplished in this time was the certainty that being Lisanna Strauss was not easy.

"Oi." Bickslow's voice brought her out of her thoughts and she gazed up at him out of the corner of her eye. "You're unusually quiet."

"Says you." Lisanna couldn't help but scoff. He was the one being quiet.

He stopped. "And what's _that _supposed to mean?"

"You don't show up for two days and when you do, you just saunter off without another word." She paused in her rant to give him a glare before she turned back around. "You're a good-for-nothing-"

Suddenly a hand was covering her mouth as Bickslow jumped forward into her. She staggered backwards but he steadied her with his other arm curling around her lower back. "Hey now." He whispered to her, his voice dangerously low. "Be quiet for a sec, will ya?"

Before she could protest, she was guided off the path and Bickslow used one of his legs to trip her. His hands suddenly flew off of her and she fell backwards into a bush. The branches scratched her on the way down and she landed in a heap. Bickslow joined her immediately and practically laid his chest over her to keep her down.

Her hair was being pulled at odd angles, and half of his weight was on top of her so she could barely breathe. Thinking they were in danger, she had the common sense to whisper, though her arms were stinging so much she wanted to scream.

"What-"

"Shh!" He shushed her, but kept very still with his head half raised.

Lisanna noticed how close they were for the first time, could feel the heat of his body cover her. It was almost uncomfortable, but there was some underlying feeling that she couldn't quite put a name to.

Trust? No, she thought she wouldn't even be able to trust him enough to hold open a door for her without it smacking her on her way through.

Attraction? No, he was far too infuriating for such thoughts.

Safety?

Yes... Perhaps it was that. After all, it was the first time he had ever made a move to protect her. Of course, this was based off the assumption that there was indeed danger nearby, but there was something reassuring about the position he placed her in. Sure, she was pretty much suffocating under his weight and the cover of the bush, and her head was starting to spin, but he was shielding her with his own body. He had placed her first, and damn it all, it was worth the discomfort of the situation.

Lisanna shifted a little to get a bit more comfortable but stopped short once her eyes turned to Bickslow's face. On his visor, there was the outline of two eyes and they glowed a green, menacing colour. The scowl etched on his mouth was so different from the normal care-free, tongue-lolling smile that usually accompanied his expression and it sort of scared her.

Were those really his eyes? Why were they glowing?

"Aw shit. This guy's annoying." Bickslow muttered under his breath. Without warning, he vanished and all the warmth and discomfort that Lisanna felt faded as another voice found its way to her ears.

"Ah, miss. Are you alright?"

A hand entered her vision and she grasped onto it blindly. She was soon pulled out from beneath the bush and as the afternoon sunlight hit her, she was brought back to her senses. A tallish man stood in front of her wearing a brown suit. His curly, frizzy hair was bunched underneath a brown hat and in his one hand; there was a notebook and pen.

"Oh Lisanna!" The man perked up happily. "I haven't seen you around lately, so I guess the rumours were true. You doing okay?"

Who was this guy?

Lisanna quickly nodded her head. "Oh yes, I'm doing fine."

There was a pause in the conversation as the man looked her over. His eyes observed her carefully, so out of habit that he didn't even realize he did it.

"Is there something I can help you with...?" Lisanna asked slowly, kind of freaked out.

"The question is if there is something I can help you with?" The man retorted smoothly. "I was actually wondering when you could come to me. Heard you got a job, but I guess you already finished it if you didn't need my help."

Oh... so this guy was probably involved with Fairy Tail somehow. That was both reassuring and disheartening at the same time.

"No." At his quirked eyebrow, she continued hastily. "I mean - you're right, I did get a job. But I haven't finished it." She took a deep breath. "I'm actually kind of stuck."

"Well, you know I help out whenever I can, so tell me what you need." The man answered her, already readying his notepad and pen.

Lisanna wasn't sure if he was reliable, but she was so desperate about completing this job that she figured this wouldn't do any harm.

"Okay. Have you heard about the cat-fighting?"

He nodded. "Vaguely. You need information about it?"

"There's actually a big match on Thursday, but I don't know what time or where it is. I'm supposed to investigate it, you see." Lisanna explained, feeling better about this since the man seemed so serious about helping her out.

He wrote something down in his notepad and nodded to himself. "Great, I'll see what I can do." He pocketed his notepad and adjusted the hat. "Another great thing you can do is that you can pay me right now."

Lisanna froze.

Pay?

She didn't think she had any money on her at all.

"Oh, startled I see. That makes it so much easier." He sidled up close to her. "Listen. There's this guy I've seen around town, pretty weird, you know? He wears funny clothes, and there's this visor that stops me from seeing his face." As Lisanna's expression changed to shock, the man looked delighted. "Ah, yes you've seen him too then! I've been chasing him around these past two days because my intuition is telling me that he'll make one hell of a story. So your payment is to call me whenever you see him again, got it?"

"Er, that's it?" Lisanna asked, uncertain.

"I won't accept anything less." The man stated seriously. As he turned, he quickly stated, "I'll get that information to you as soon as I get something."

Without another word, he adjusted his hat so that the shadows covered his eyes, then departed.

Lisanna shook her head. There were many weirdos in her life, it seemed.

* * *

Lisanna returned home late that night after another few hours of pointless searching. She asked a couple of people about the cat-fighting but she was either completely ignored or just plain threatened. Why was it such a sensitive topic to whoever she talked to?

"Ah Lisanna, you're finally home!" Mira's voice came before the white-haired beauty was seen through the doorway. "Hard at work?"

"You have no idea." Lisanna answered, already heading for the stairs that led to her room. She was exhausted.

"Wait, Gajeel came by earlier and asked me to give you this." Mira disappeared for a second before she returned with a sealed envelope. "He also said to remember his payment."

Lisanna took the envelope suspiciously. "Oh, thank you."

"I'm surprised that it took you so long to approach him. Normally, you'd go immediately if you were stuck." Mira continued on as they both made their way up the staircase.

"Well..." Lisanna felt nervous at answering, but figured it would help her cause more than hinder it. "I actually didn't remember him. I had no idea who he was when I asked him for help, but he seemed to know me."

Her sister looked incredibly worried at that. "You don't remember Gajeel? Are you sure you're okay to get back into work? Don't push yourself too hard." Lisanna only shrugged as she reached her doorway, but she didn't get to reply as Mira continued on. "He works for the local paper, but is secretly Fairy Tail's best information broker. His prices are also very affordable so everyone goes to him if they need to know something."

Lisanna fiddled with the envelope in her hand, finally understanding everything about the conversation she had with the man earlier in the day.

"...Thank you for telling me."

Mira simply smiled and wrapped her arms around her in a warm embrace.

"Tell me if you can't remember anyone else." Mira whispered before letting go and walking daintily to her own room.

Lisanna could only move once the door closed behind her sister's back. She turned and went into her own room. The envelope she had in her hand was dropped to the floor, forgotten as the soul inside Lisanna found herself wrapped up in feelings far more important. She plopped on her bed in a heap. She felt strangely empty as only one thought raced through her mind.

_Lisanna Strauss is damn lucky to have such an amazing family._

* * *

Author's Note:

Well, I actually completely forgot about this after my internet went haywire for a while. Many apologies! But, I remembered and tried to carry on and that's all that matters haha. Thanks to everyone who's read this and I hope you can enjoy it as we continue on with the story.

Replies to reviews:

OlieGoldenWolf: Oh wow, thank you so much for all the kind things that you've said! They really mean a lot when I have no confidence in a story or my writing. The thing with Lisanna's characterization will be explained further into the story so I hope that you can deal with it for the time being and deeply apologize if you find it annoying. It is not my intention at all. Thank you again for reviewing and reading!


	6. Truths That Can't Be Told

Truths That Can't Be Told

Lisanna was up before the sunlight of the morning glittered through her windows. After the restless night she had where her racing mind fought against every desire of sleep her body yearned for, she was damn exhausted. So much so that she sat staring at the folded envelope she received the night before without any motivation to open it.

The soul inside Lisanna Strauss was uncomfortable and lacked the enthusiasm to repent for her sins that had previously driven her through every day. The successive unsuccessful days she'd been living through since receiving her mission fortified the doubts that had kept her up while she had still been lying in the hospital bed. Why did she deserve to have a second chance? Why did Lisanna have to die for her to get it? She had such a loving family and they were so heartbroken when they thought of her death.

This body was not hers, and she absolutely loathed that fact.

"So... that envelope there is going to open from the force of your glare or what?" Bicklow's voice called out to her.

The man leaned against the dark window with his arms crossed and stared at the white-haired girl hidden in her bed covers on the floor. The envelope lay directly in front of her. Lisanna's face was the only thing visible through the covers as she wore it over her body and head like armour.

She remained silent. "Hey Bickslow... can you take me back?"

"Back to your bed? Well okay, but that's rather bold of you." He shrugged and made a motion towards her to pick her up.

She scooted away quickly until her back pressed against the bed frame. "No, no. I mean can you take me back to wherever souls go to? You know, where I came from."

Bickslow straightened abruptly and cocked his head to the side. "No."

"But-"

"No." He repeated softly. "You're here for half a year. You've already been here for around a month and a half. I don't have the authority to bring you back before the time period is up."

Lisanna frowned and dragged her bed covers until it covered her face. She slumped to the ground and a muffled, "useless" came out.

"What was that?" The man asked, coming up to kneel in front of her and poke the lump of blankets.

Lisanna's face emerged again, looking thoughtful this time. "Does this mean you're really low ranking in your weird job?"

If a person could appear highly insulted through just his mouth expressions, it would look exactly how Bickslow looked.

"Low-ranking?!" He spat before he jolted upright and started to pace the room. "What the hell is wrong with you?" He muttered as he moved.

Lisanna looked at him curiously. "Well, you said you didn't have the authority, so I figured-"

"Bah!" he interrupted her before she could say anymore. "I just said that because I can't tell you the truth."

The soul was highly alert now. She sat up straighter, disregarded her blanket and made a grab for the man's leg just as he walked past. He side-stepped her grab easily and moved to the window to open it.

"Wait!" Lisanna yelled, scrambling to her feet to stop him. By the time she reached him, he had already squeezed through the window and started to climb down the wall of her house.

"Tell me the truth right now!" Lisanna screamed as she stuck her head out. She had half the mind to climb down after him, but it looked rather difficult and she knew she wasn't as acrobatic as Bickslow.

"Nyaa nyaa, you look like a crazy woman screaming at nothing!" He taunted her just before he reached the grass. "This is one truth I can't tell you!"

"Don't run from your problems, you coward!" she yelled back, too heated to care what it would look like to the neighbours. They were probably sleeping anyway... hopefully.

_Wait... He's running away... He's running... He runs away a damn lot!_

Lisanna suddenly remembered yesterday's events when he had pushed her into a bush to run away.

"Don't make me call Gajeel on you!" She shouted down at him, to which he froze momentarily. At his shocked expression, she continued. "That's right, I know he can see you! And yes, he wants you so bad!"

"Don't say that." Bickslow moaned into his hands before he knelt on the ground in despair. It took only a few moments for his tongue-lolling grin to return. "Hah, like I care. Watch this magic trick as I... _disappear!_"

And he was gone. Just like that.

Lisanna fumed with anger and irritation. Why wouldn't he tell her why she can't return as a soul before the trial period ends? What was he hiding?

His visit had brought about a new spark in her, gave her a jump-start on the new day. Now she was fired up and ready to tackle her mission full on, if only just to keep her mind off of her useless guide.

* * *

An angrily filled tea-cup later, Lisanna was seated at the dinner table with the contents of Gajeel's envelope spread around her. He'd gathered some pretty good information.

There was a list of all the upcoming matches that were happening for the next three months, and where they were happening. There were several photos of people with labels attached to them.

"Pantherlily's owner"

"Manager of the matches"

There were several photos that were labelled "she/he would probably let you in on the matches if approached right"

There was also one photo labelled "King" though this was blurry and darkness obscured the person's face but you could see his build quite clearly.

There were several newspaper clippings that consisted of mere rumours and speculations of the cat-fighting business, but it must have been pretty top secret considering there was barely any important information.

Finally, there was a printed ticket with the date for Thursday on it. She checked the list of matches and saw that this week's match was located in a place called Exceed and it started at ten in the night.

Lisanna sat back in her chair as she contemplated all this information. She now had a plan of action.

It was Wednesday today, so she'd have to use today and the next just to prepare herself. Perhaps she'd look around for the people in the pictures that would get her into the fights.

That was it. That was her plan for today.

* * *

After Lisanna went through the pictures again, she picked the least scary-looking person to find.

As she gathered her information to put away, the phone in her pocket rang.

"Hello?" She answered uncertainly.

"Hey, Gajeel here." His voice sounded rather different over the phone. "I know it hasn't been long, but I'm desperate to know if you've seen the guy with the visor today. Whenever I talk about him, no one else has seen him. It's strange."

After her so-called guide's attitude towards her today, she was more than ready to send the reporter after Bickslow, but she knew the poor man would just be chasing nothing.

"Sorry, haven't seen him." She replied. He thanked her quickly, but before he put down the phone, she continued. "While I have you here, can I ask about a person in the pictures you sent me?"

"Sure, go ahead. Hopefully I'll remember."

"Okay so there's this girl, she looks kind of young, real cute and all. She's got light brown hair and in the picture, she's wearing a green hat with bunny ears. Who is she?"

There was a slight pause on the other line. "Hmm. That sounds like Coco. I'm surprised you haven't seen her around. She's in a group with the Fairy Hunter, so I figured you'd know something."

Fairy Hunter? What?

Gajeel carried on. "Anyway, she's been working part-time at a coffee shop nearby you. Heard it has something to do with scouting out Fairy Tail so she'll probably latch on to you if she recognizes you. They'll be wanting to find your new base."

Lisanna was so confused that she couldn't even make any noise come out of her mouth. What was going on?

Yet again, Gajeel continued talking since she hadn't made a sound in a while. "Anyway, as payment for this little titbit, I expect one of your specials as dinner tonight, so I'll see you at Fairy Tail later alright."

And he hung up before she could even say anything.

Her phone dropped out of her hands at his last words.

_Specials? Lisanna has specials? I'm supposed to cook a damn special tonight? _The soul thought hysterically. She hadn't the slightest clue of any specials. Perhaps she could get Mira to cook it... or at least help.

_First things first though. _She thought as she bent to pick up her phone again.

She supposed she should contact her employer about the new information on the cat fighting.

* * *

Author's Note

Pretty short, and not too great I think. Sorry, I'm still trying to get into this again. Hope it's not too bad!

Replies to reviews:

Mira drayer - Yay, I'm back! Thank you for continuing to read even after my long break. :D


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